A Soul Reborn
by Zio-hime
Summary: I use to be really terrified of ghosts in my past life. Hated the idea my home was haunted by something I couldn't see or touch. It was probably that unknown element that freaked me out the most. Now though? They are a pain that can't seem to leave me, my family & friends alone no matter how much we fight them. Being in an anime is too much stress and work. IchigoxOC


**AN: So I have been having trouble writing my SI HTTYD story so I switched my focus to a different plotbunny that I had at the time. So this came out of it TADA!...Yes it's another SI I'm using all my SI ideas to improve my writing and ability to write in certain fandoms since it's really not my forte. :P Any way I have this posted also on AO3 under the same user name I have here so if you like it better than please look up my account there. Any way to repeat what I advertised in my HTTYD story I'll be posting small excerpts of my stories on my tumblr. So if you want to read ahead of what I post here or AO3 feel free to take a look I'll also post my art for these stories and others I have there for your viewing pleasure. Shameless advertising I know. C: Enjoy the story and please review helps me keep writing even if it one word.**

* * *

 **Prologue**

* * *

Death wasn't something I thought of much in my life, too morbid and final for me really. The few times I did was when I would contempt about either my, my sister's or my mom's deaths.

Every single time I thought of my mom's death I would tear up and know that both I and my sister would be devastated by it when it happened. She was our only parent the one that took care of us and looked out for us all our lives. Compared to that, mine and Kimberly's deaths weren't as important really. Don't take it the wrong way I would be sad about my sister's death. I wouldn't have anyone to tease or talk to or someone that just gets me without me having to say anything. Someone that knew my habits, quirks, pet peeves, all those small things that you pick up about someone after living with them your whole life. But we both knew that we would be more affected by our mother's death than each other's.

So my own death wasn't something I dreaded so much. Sure I would regret causing my mother pain in having her bury one of her children but she still had my sister and brothers. They would take care of her I know they would. Kimberly especially wouldn't let her be depressed for too long about me, she knows I wouldn't want that. So I wasn't scared of dying, but what did make me apprehensive was what came after that. Where would I go?

Was it Heaven, Purgatory, Oblivion, or Reincarnation?

I personally leaned towards either Heaven or Reincarnation or maybe more of a mixture of the two which I got for one of those modern spiritual books. This is probably why I didn't freak out as much to what happened to me when I finally kicked it.

* * *

"Come on Kimberly work with me here! Everyone is leaving us behind." Said a young 21 old Mexican girl, as she tried to better time her rows with her 16 year old sister who sat right behind her on their kayak as they slowly moved down a calm river.

They were trying to keep up with some family friends and their kids that had come with them to enjoy some swimming and kayaking at a spring park. It had been planned since last week that they would come to Blue Spring Park to hold a BBQ and just enjoy themselves. Quite a few of their mother's friends had been available to come with their own families that it might as well have been a party they were holding instead of a BBQ. They had left early in the morning to get to the park before all the good places were taken and the kayaks were all rented out. It took all of them almost 2 hours just to get to the park from the city they lived in so it was good they left so early. Although Ziomara did not appreciate being woken up at 7am to get ready when they didn't leave till 9am.

"Hey! You're the one that's slowing us down since you can't freaking row right Ziomara!" grouched Kimberly, a bit annoyed that they were last in the impromptu boat race they were holding all because of her sister.

"Well sorry that my arms hurt from rowing so much so we could keep up sheesh." Retorted Ziomara.

They finally caught up to everyone and were just barely able to maneuver themselves close to the tree branches and small bank that everyone had docked at although there wasn't much room for another boat. Some of the adults and kids were climbing up the branches to a small ledge that looked perfect to jump off from although the ground around it was very slippery to walk on.

"Kimberly, Ziomara, come up and jump off its fun!" urged a small chubby 12-year-old girl named Melody.

"Yeah come try unless of course you guys are too scared you big chickens." Mocked Melody's 11-year old sister, Nelly.

Kimberly ignored Nelly's insult and climbed out the boat and went up to the jumping area "I'm not scared though Ziomara might be." She suggested with a taunting smile.

"I'll have you know that I am not scared to jump off! I have done it before at a bigger height then that." Ziomara argued, as she also got out to prove those evil brats wrong.

"Oh yeah, when?"

"When I went to visit my grandma in Mexico we went to a river nearby to swim in."

"Which time was it the first or second? Cause we were 10 and 5 the first time. The second time we were 16 and 11." Questioned Kimberly as she climbed up followed by brat 1 and brat 2.

"First time, but it still counts! Plus, we've gone to plenty of water parks and those rides are way scarier than a little jump." Ziomara pointed out as she climbed up to join them. She took her time climbing up making sure that she wouldn't slip and fall into the water or knock herself out on the branches.

"Hurry up Zio, you slowpoke! I want to see how big a splash you make when you jump." Hurried a short 12-year-old boy.

"Stop rushing me Alex I'll get up there when I want too. And you better not be calling me fat when you say that cause you're pretty chubby yourself!"

It took a bit since Ziomara was being careful but she finally got up to the ledge they were on but just as she was walking away from the edge her foot slipped from the wet mud. She went falling backwards into the branches hitting quite a few on the way down. She would have been fine if only having a couple of nasty bruises and cuts, if it weren't for the fact her head hit a big branch on the way down.

One moment she's hearing yelling and screaming around her as her body crashes thru some very thick branches(ow). The next thing she knows, she feels and hears a crack coming from her neck before she completely blacks out. Her last thought was of things she regretted not finishing or doing. One of which involved her favorite pastime.

' _Damnit I never got to finish reading my favorite mangas! At least Naruto was completed before I bite the dust considering it's my top favorite I would have haunted Kimberly until I finished it. I sure hope the kids don't get traumatized by this.'_

* * *

A world away in the city of Houston, Texas something otherworldly was happening in one of its hospitals. A car comes zooming into the parking lot of the hospital screeching to a stop at the front door before a frantic young woman comes scrabbling out. She quickly opens the back door before carefully helping someone out of the car and walking them quickly inside.

"Help! My friend has gone into labor!" yelled the woman before a bunch of nurses rushed towards the woman in labor. They carefully picked her up and placed her in a gurney before wheeling her away to a room. A nurse nearby took the distraught friend to the front desk for information about the patient.

"Ok Ma'am what's your name and the patient's name?" questioned the nurse.

"I'm Yesenia Rodríguez and my friend is Valentina Joaquin."

"I see and how far along was Ms. Joaquin?"

"She was 8 months but she wasn't due for at least 2 more weeks is what the doctor told her."

The nurse asked a few more questions; is the father coming, did she have any relatives that need informing, etc. After the questioning was finished the nurse had someone take Yesenia to her friend's room, after getting her to move her car, so she could support Valentina since she was her best friend. Walking in Yesenia saw how much pain Valentina was in and was so happy she decided to never have kids. Like ever. She would rather adopt if she wanted a kid.

"Damn Tina you look like crap." Lightly teased Yesenia taking a sit next to her friend's bed. 'Tina' let out a small laugh before it turned into a groan as another contraction hit her.

"Senia I think you had the right i-idea on not having kids. Ohhhh. T-this brat is being a l-literal pain in the butt."

"You mean vagina." 'Senia' cheerfully pointed out.

"Sh-shut up you get m-my point-shitthathurts! I-I don't think I want any more t-than this one. Dios mio! Please remind me not to have a-anymore if I ever get the insane idea to have another one. FUCK! Getoutalreadyyoulittlehellspawn!"

"Sure thing Chica. Whatever you say." Confirmed Senia as she giggled at her friend's misfortune, receiving a dark glare in return.

Some hours pasted as they talked to get Tina's mind slightly off the pain. It didn't work much considering the pain kept mounting more and more as time passed. The nurses came in every 10 or 15 minutes to check on how much she dilated and making sure her body was stable. It wasn't until another hour past making it a whole 7 hours before the doctor came in to make one last final check before they proceeded with the birth.

"Ok it seems you are dilated in enough to start pushing. So when I count to three I want you to push, alright?" ordered the doctor as she stood at the end of the bed. The nurses around them making sure that Tina was stable and were prepared to act if anything went wrong. Tina a bit nervous grabbed her friend's hand to reassure herself.

"Y-yeah let's g-get on with it."

"one, two, three push!"

"Arggghhhhh!"

"Again! one, two, three push!"

"Aaaaahhhhhhh!"

For the next hour and a half, Tina pushed and pushed when the doctor ordered trying to finally give birth to her firstborn (and hopefully last) child.

"Almost there I can see the head coming through just a bit more! Now push!"

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

"One more time almost there. Push!"

With one last push and cry from Tina the baby was born.

"WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

"Congratulations you have a healthy baby girl." The doctor announced happily as she cut the umbilical cord before handing her off to a nurse to have her cleaned and wrapped up. She then picked up a clipboard nearby and started writing down the time, date and other information for the birth certificate. "So what will her name be?"

The nurse handed Tina her new daughter as she quieted down going from screaming her lungs out to just whimpering. Marveling at the fact that this little baby was what she carried for nearly 9 months inside her and was her own flesh and blood. Remembering the name, she had already picked out having thought the meaning perfect for her daughter, she proudly pronounced her name.

"Xiomara Joaquin that's her name. So that she be ready for this crazy battle called life." Tina smiled as she rocked her daughter to sleep.

"Oh and make sure you spell it. X.i.o.m.a.r.a. Tina here keeps misspelling it with a Z for some odd reason." Said Senia as the doctor wrote down the name.

"It was one time! One! Why do you keep bring it up? Plus, it still sounds the same either way." The new mother whined.

"Hey! You wanted her name to mean 'Ready for battle' might as well make sure the spellings right so the meaning sticks. If it's with a Z it won't mean the same thing."

"Of course it will mean the same thing it's only a one letter difference! So long it sounds the same it won't matter if it's a Z or X."

As the two friends bickered over the name. The baby in question, newly named Xiomara, was having a small mental breakdown as she vaguely realized what happened to her. Her new eyes and ears, not working quite as well as her old ones did at the moment but still workable, was enough to confirm her suspicions.

Xiomara Joaquin, previously Ziomara Castilla, had died when her neck broke after falling down through some tree branches while kayaking and now she had been reborn as a baby.

' _Holy shit! I've been reincarnated!...or is it more like reborn? Gah getting side tracked here. I thought this was only in books and fanfiction?!'_ Xiomara numbly pondered on this impossibility. _'At the most my memories should have been erased…sort of, considering others can get them back via hypnosis. Well maybe now I can eat better… early on and make sure I don't…...stay short and…. chubby for the rest…. of my life.'_

Slowly Xiomara fell asleep lulled by her new mothers rocking. Her consciousness and memories temporarily being locked away until her brain could handle having almost 20 years of extra memories. Which won't be before a couple of years pass since they will trickle down slowly into her new brain giving the impression of her being just a very advanced child.

* * *

 **4 years later**

For the first 4 years Xiomara was a pretty normal child. Sure she developed a bit quickly. Crawling, walking, and speaking sooner than expected but considering she's already learn this before in a past life it's not that surprising and it had the bonus of making her mom really proud. It was around when she was 4 ½ years old though that her memories finally broke through since her brain was finally able to handle it. During the nights she would dream of her past life as she lived it in her sleep. It took a few nights for the dreams to stop but afterwards she was fully aware of who she was and had been before. For a while afterwards she kept expecting to stumble across some weird plotline from a show, or book, or something, but she didn't. She felt really silly later on expecting this new life to be like those SI fanfics. Although she wasn't sure if she should be grateful or disappointed it wasn't like that. So she just went about reliving her childhood and life. My god was it boring….

Fortunately, she had been born about 5 years later than her previous life so she wouldn't have to wait too long for decent computers and internet speed to make an appearance. But for now she was minding her business watching her cartoons since it was Saturday and her body forced her to wake up early, even if her adult mind wanted to sleep in.

"I am so bored right now." Xio rolled semi off the couch, just hanging there upside down. "God these memories are such a pain I have so many spoilers on the best cartoons and now I can't enjoy my old favorite shows." She whined flopping down to the floor. Having given up watching the 'new' Pokémon episode she headed to her room to grab her sketch book and pencils to practice her drawing.

After getting her memories back, and making sure she wasn't going to be thrown into some kind of plot anytime soon, she had bugged her mom into buying it for her so she could draw again. She was going to get her drawing skills back even if it killed her. Before she died, her skills were semi-decent (in her opinion) and she had been confident in her people drawing and had been working on getting better on backgrounds. Now all of it had gone back down to level 0. Zero!

So she was getting it back and make it better than before, even if her hands get cramps from practicing so much.

She had just finished trying to draw her plushy bunnies' numerous times. Each attempt coming out horribly misshaped and her frustrated with her chubby hand mounting more and more. When her mom got a call from her 'Tia' Senia. "Yesenia how you are doing?" Tina answered.

"I'm great at the moment. I'm currently babysitting my nephews at the moment and was planning on going to the park with them. Figured you might want to go out and bring Xiomara with you so she can have some fun playing with the kids there."

"Hmmm sure. Considering how often she stays inside watching TV or drawing, not doing any exercise, it might be good for her to play with others."

"So we'll meet in an hour at that park near your house?"

"Yeah see you then." Tina then hung up before quickly going through the dishes to finish quickly. "Xio put your sketchbook up we're meeting up with Yesenia to go to the park and maybe shopping later." Called Tina as she finished washing the last of the dishes and putting them away.

"Kay Ma." The reborn 4-year-old quickly picked up her pencils and sketch book before walking to her room to get her backpack. She then shoved her things inside also putting her colored pencils, a ruler, markers, and some sunny D bottles and chips for later. She then quickly changed out of her PJs and into some shorts and tank so that her mom wouldn't change her instead. Ugh, pants and sleeves never again!

Five minutes later Xio was ready to go after making sure she didn't need anything else. She ran out her room and to the car excited to finally get out of the house! While she loved watching TV and drawing as much as any other anime obsessed girl out there. There are times where she just wants to go out somewhere with family and friends to just enjoy herself. Before her memories came back she wasn't able to fully appreciate it and she has yet to go out with her mom after they came back. Although she was not happy she had to sit in a booster seat as her mom strapped her in. She hated those straps they dug in and irritated her skin.

"So Ma where are we going after the park?" asked Xio hoping it was somewhere nice like a flea market or maybe the mall. She liked looking at all the items on display plus she could give suggestions to her Mom's clothing choices. Especially if she was looking for clothes for Xiomara.

"Don't know yet depends how long Senia has to take care of her nephews and when she has to go back home. But I do know we'll be going out to eat. I want to eat at a restaurant." Tina replied smiling at the happy grin her little girl had.

It was a ten-minute drive from the house to the park and considering she had no phone or tablet to distract her, Xio ended up people watching from the window as they passed by. After a while she started noticing something strange about the people walking on the sidewalk. A few of them had something hanging around their neck or was it on their chests? She couldn't make sure considering they were moving too fast to check for sure. Figuring she'll be able to look closer when they got to the park and had time to observe the people walking by, she ignored it for now.

When they arrived at the park Xio was impatient to get out of her booster seat and figure out what the heck was it that she saw? The moment her mom unstrapped her, the tiny girl jumped off the seat and out the car and started to look around. Nothing. None of the people with that weird thing on their chest was close by.

Xio pouted annoyed that she might have lost her chance at figuring out the little mystery she found. The little Mexican girl then spotted her Tia Senia and two boys next to her at one of those picnic tables that the park had which pushed the thought of those strange people out of her mind. She ran to give her honorary aunt a hug leaving her poor mother to bring both their bags.

Compared to her previous aunt Xio liked her current aunt Senia so much better she was way more fun than her Tia Berna. Though she was sad she didn't have any cousins to play with anymore. It didn't matter if Jesse and Francisco teased her too much on her weight when they were little she really misses her past cousins. She felt lonely with just her and her mom and even with Yesenia there still weren't enough people (family) around for her liking. Though maybe not anymore if she got along with Yesenia's nephews.

"Tia Senia!" Almost tackling her aunt's legs from under her, Xio gave her as big a hug she could give. Yesenia only laughed picking up the little bundle of giggles attached to her giving Xio her own bear hug.

"Hey there my little minion how's it going?"

"I was soooooo bored at home Tia Senia. Even watching TV is boring! I'm happy we went to the park today instead of staying home all day." The small toddler's face scrunched with distaste at the thought but then cleared, happy she was out. "I even got snacks and juice for when we get the munchies so we can stay longer."

"I see I hope you have some for my nephews they might get hungry too. Oi! Minions 2 and 3 meet Minion 1!" she called to the kids behind her.

The boys had been playing with a beat up old soccer ball but came racing over when they were called by their aunt. The oldest looked around 8 or 9 years old seemed to be that kind of kid that didn't like to hang around with their younger siblings. So probably brought the ball since he might not want to play with the 'babies' but looks could be deceiving and he might look out for his brother. Who knows? The younger one was maybe 5 or 6 and looked pretty quiet and shyly followed his older brother from behind.

"These two are my nephews Xio. This one here is Juan he's 8" pointed to the scowling 8-year-old "the other one is Manuel he's 6." The younger boy gave a small wave before going back to staring at the ground slightly hiding behind his aunt. Seeing how they were the complete opposite of each other Xio knew this would cause some trouble, most of which will probably begin with Juan.

' _Great this little play date won't end will for none of us.'_ She inwardly despaired. Hoping to stay out of it the young girl hurriedly walked to a nearby table to draw but Tina quickly took away my bag.

"No Xio you can draw when we go home. Why don't you go and play with the boys instead?" she suggested with a smile, but the would-be toddler knew hiding under that smile was an evil grin full of pure malicious amusement. Xio glowered at her for taking her stuff and making her go interact with two little kids.

Before she died, she could barely tolerate being around kids under the age of 10! Always running around screaming and fighting and just ugh no no no! Her sister was better able to handle them then her since she got too impatient or annoyed with them too fast. Cause, honestly speaking, she believes the only children she would have been able to tolerate well enough would have been **her own children**. And now she has to play with kids a decade mentally younger than her while she looked like a 4-year-old. Que being bossed around by the angry, immature 8-year-old. Yeah she's definitely not going to enjoy this.

Scowling Xio stomped away and walked past the boys ignoring them to show her displeasure. Childish she knows, but she's 4 so she can do it without shame hah! Looking around to see what she could do since she couldn't reach the monkey bars, the swings were occupied well except for the baby ones (yeah not happening), and the slide had a bit of a line. Not feeling like fighting her way through that she walked around a bit before noticing that this place had one of those merry go round thingies…. [I have no idea what they are called, so yes I'm calling it a thingy don't judge my vocab!]

Anyway Xio hasn't been able to play on one for a long time. Most of the parks she knew or went to before never had them so it was a nice surprise to see one to play on. Letting out a low squeal of happiness the small girl ran to the empty ride and grabbed a bar before starting to push to spin it around. She pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed some more but it only ended in frustration. Xio was too small to make even one decent spin on the dumb ride.

"Hey you want some help with that?" She jumped at hearing a voice behind her so close. Turning around she saw a frowning Juan with Manuel behind him, the younger boy looking interested in getting on the ride too. At first she wanted to reject the offer feeling indignant at having a kid help her, but the urge to be spun around kicked that thought to the curb.

"Yeah can you do it as fast as you can please, but not too fast that I fall off ok?" She asked the boy nodding in understanding before he shot a grin to his brother.

"Still want to get on? she wants it to go fast you might not like it." Juan taunted. At first Manuel looked hesitant to get on, but seeing Xio, a little 4-year-old girl, sitting wrapped around a bar like a leech smiling, he nodded. Probably determined not to be shown up by a girl younger than him. He quickly got on and wrapped himself just like she did on a nearby bar next to her suddenly grinning as happily as Xio was.

"Ok here we go a 1, a 2, and a- "

He spun before he hit three catching Xio and Manuel off guard. They screeched in surprise clinging as hard as they could as he laughed at them. That jerk almost caused her to slip off and go hurdling off the thing, but she let go of my annoyance, instead letting herself enjoy the ride as the older boy kept pushing them faster and faster.

While they played and their guardians talked and gossiped, across from the park on top of a building stood a strange skeletal creature eyeing the park with hunger in its eyes. Scanning the area, it focused on two good targets; the young woman talking with her friend and a small girl playing with two boys. Licking it lips(teeth?) it grinned at finding such delicious looking souls to eat especially the small one, so powerful for one so young.

" **Oh what a lucky day today for me. Two spiritually aware souls just waiting to be eaten and no Shinigami in sight. What a lucky find."** It spoke with malicious glee before it went bounding off to hunt its new meal.

Maybe if I had tried harder to figure out those weird people I had seen before we came here or had even looked up and seen it across the street heading toward us what happened later might have been prevented, but I didn't do either of those things and I couldn't turn back time to redo it. So I have to live with the fact if it wasn't for me or mom being there, none of it would have happened.


End file.
